Sahara Bio

Saharais the Irish singer/songwriter duo Trish and Dave Long who migrated to Australia in 1987. Before meeting in 1984 they had individually produced a rich body of live work on the Dublin music scene. After joining forces they soon began a songwriting collaboration which has blossomed over the last thirty two years resulting in several recordings, countless live performances in theatres and festivals along with ‘live to air’ on many radio and TV shows.

Since the release of their recordings, reviewers have placed Sahara’s music under the ‘eclectic’ umbrella due to it’s variance in styles. When Sahara released their first CD 'Vision' back in 1997 the current trend was themed CDs in one music genre. However Trish and Dave did not subscribe to this ideal having always written from inspiration believing there must be freedom to be truly creative. Surprisingly this eclectic album ‘Vision’ received great reviews and it wasn’t long before other songwriters described themselves as eclectic.

Sahara ‘Vision’ brought Trish and Dave into the international spotlight when in 1997 they submitted their track ‘Make My Day’ to the first Internet music charts ‘SoundClick’ operating out of New York. Within a week their song was voted No.1 worldwide and stayed in that position for four consecutive weeks. This was so unusual it made the ABC TV evening news Australia wide dubbing Trish and Dave ‘CyberStars’. A good moment for a couple of migrant musicians working in offices and renting a small unit! Not quite sure what to do next, Trish and Dave decided to hire a small theatre in St. Kilda Melbourne and produce their ‘CyberStars in Concert’ on July 4th 1998. To their amazement it was a total sellout.

Another nudge arrived, again from New York, in the guise of an email requesting a video of a live Sahara performance for a new video streaming website called CelticTV. Sahara had a video of the ‘CyberStars’ concert courtesy of a radio presenter in the audience that night, however it was only on a personal video camera and was lacking the quality needed at the time. Sahara decided to hire the Beckett Theatre at The Malthouse in Melbourne and staged ‘Sahara Live @ The Malthouse’ on September 4th 1999. The video became a favourite and was broadcast on several occasions. Through persuasion from various sources Sahara was talked into releasing part of the live concert on the CD 'Sahara Live @ The Malthouse' . This received critical acclaim and ratings of three and a half stars in major publications.

A‘what next’ phase resulted in Sahara bringing their concert interstate. Trish and Dave self-employed once again with their ageing car laden with instruments, basic sound equipment and a couple of spotlights. With car engine number two under the bonnet, thousands of kilometres and as many life lessons travelling through glaring sun-drenched drought-ridden outback towns, to rain-drenched flooded coastal towns, leaves one with many a tale to tell. All of this provided the inspiration for Sahara’s next CD ‘A New Beginning’ which was recorded in their home studio between tours.

Sahara toured ‘A New Beginning’ which was a great success running for a couple of years with bookings well into 2007. However the long road came to an abrupt halt in December 2006. Unlike the car which had it’s guts replaced we were unable to do the same for Dave. A chronic illness turned critical. Dave was at death’s door and we almost lost him on more than one occasion. It was an enormous effort to save him. Surviving emergency life saving surgery and subsequent complications including sepsis, Dave proved his mental strength and bravery. It’s been a particularly tough period in Trish and Dave’s lives. Between major operations over the last few years Dave with Trish managed to write and record their last two albums 'There is this place I go' and 'See all that's before me' along with the singles 'Only This World' and ‘Hope in Everything’.

2016 we were all set to go but there was another spoke in the works. In June Dave was rushed to hospital yet again for more surgeries which concluded successfully in April 2017.

June 2017: Now we can say we are looking forward to recording all our new songs and once Dave is fully recovered get back on the ‘long’ road again.

April 2018: New website reflecting our new hope for Sahara. First year since 2007 that Dave is not facing further surgeries - something to really celebrate. Getting our strength back up and our act together so that we are ready to once again climb that mountain of being independent musicians and what it involves .....'the hills are alive with the sound of music...la la la la' as for our mental state.....'the hills are alive with the sound of music...'